


Adelaide, after

by lulla_lunekjaer



Category: The Ever Afters Series - Shelby Bach
Genre: Adelaide is my child, Gen, Just let her be happy, Language, Video Message
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 09:39:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5738722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lulla_lunekjaer/pseuds/lulla_lunekjaer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adelaide leaves, but not the way anyone thought.</p><p> </p><p>Rating for language.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adelaide, after

This was what she wanted, Adelaide told herself. This was for the best.

She couldn’t stay. Not after this. Going would be bad, but staying, staying would be worse.

She got up and walked around the pink room that she had loved. It looked over the training courts, which she had loathed until Rory. There were a lot of things that she had loathed until Rory. Fighting, girls with brown hair, girls in general.

The Adelaide of three years ago would have run away from ice griffins. She wouldn’t have eaten the poisoned fey fudge. She wouldn’t have kept the coin, wouldn’t have done anything to distract him from Rory.

The Adelaide of four years ago wouldn’t have done anything for this girl, who she loves more than anything, who would see her when no one else would. That Adelaide was dead.

This is what’s best, she thinks. I leave now and never come back. I go meet my parents, I travel the world and tell people about the dangers of snow and susceptibility and love.

That was what she told Rory she would do.

Would Rory do it?

No.

“Fuck this,” she says, to no one in particular, and to everyone in particular.

A few days later, they find the video camera with her last message. They pop the memory chip into a M3 and she appears, blurry, slightly grainy, eyes red, hair still perfectly curled.

“Hi, If you’re watching this, it means I’ve actually gone and done something for myself. Whoever you are, pause here and go get Rory, and Chase, and Lena, and the Director, I suppose, and anyone who’s still alive that would care about me. I’ll wait.”

Lena is there, but Rory is not, and the Director is gone. The three of them sit and watch the video for what will be the first of many times in the next six months.

“I told you all that I was going to spread the word about the Snow Queen, about how they should help us. How that’ll be my atonement.

“Well, fuck that.

“Fuck all of this. Who do you think I am? All this, and I’m still that giggling girl. The example. ‘Look, I was a bad person and wanted something for myself for once, here’s how you can be not like me!’ Please.” She scoffs and stares straight at the camera.

“I’m Adelaide Radcliffe. Every day of my life, people have told me that I’m selfish and have been given everything and still want more. Well, it’s true. I have been given everything. Everything but.” She exhales slowly while uncrossing her arms and brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

“I have never had a single friend. My parents don’t care. They didn’t even come to get me.

“And you know what, yeah, everything I’ve ever done has been for myself. It was all stuff I wanted, but I’ve never needed any of it. Even you, Chase, were just a side effect of looking for who I am and hiding who I was.”

On the video, Adelaide swallows and tries not to cry.

“So, I’m leaving. For good. But it’s not for you, and it’s not for the Director, and it’s not for my parents. It’s not for Solange, and it’s not for the world. The world can die for all I care. It’s for me. I guess I really am selfish, but I’m tired of being someone’s pawn.” She pauses, catching her breath, before starting again.

“Have you ever read Romeo and Juliet? It’s not really about true love, and it’s not a ‘cautionary tale’ about how teenagers are stupid. It’s about how when you dismiss the emotions of teenagers, how when you write them off as being young and stupid, it’s really you who’s stupid. So, Director, yeah, you’re stupid.

“But,” and now the tears are starting, “it means I’m stupid, too.”

“I was never really in love with Chase. I,” and for a moment, she is Schrödinger's, saying it and not saying it at the same time, “I was in love with Rory. I guess I thought that if he was in love with me, then you would hate him, which you did, and, I don’t know, maybe he would break your heart and I could dump him and pick up the pieces. It sounds stupid, saying it out loud. I guess I also thought that if he wanted me, if I could look like I wanted him, then I could pull off being straight. Maybe if a boy loved me, I would really be straight.”

Rory has her hands over her mouth. Chase looks sick, again, and Lena wishes that she had invented time travel by now.

“That wasn’t fair to either of you, and I’m sorry. I’m sure you’ll be very happy together.

“If I was anything like Rory, if I were anything near as good as Rory, then I’d be saying this in person. I’m not, though. I’m a coward, like usual.”

Adelaide smiles now, though. “I left my blades behind, though, so that’s something. They’re in the drawer by my bed.” She cocks her head toward it.

“I’m going, I don’t think I said, and I don’t know where. I might never see you again, and I’m glad, actually. So I guess this is goodbye, for you, and a new beginning, for me. Yeah, I like that.”

She gets up and leans toward the camera as if to turn it off, before startling as she remembers one more thing.

“Also, I fixed Jack’s truck. Tell him that he doesn’t owe me anything for fixing it, because I also stole it.”

She smiles, and the screen goes dark.

Rory looks at Lena, who looks at Rory, who looks at Chase.

“Will she ever stop driving us crazy?”

“Nope.”

**Author's Note:**

> This should really say "with apologies to Maggie Stiefvater and Shelby Bach" at the top, to Shelby for tearing apart her character and to Maggie for reassembling her with leftover parts from two of her characters.
> 
> For extra fun you can make bets on who said those last two lines.
> 
>  
> 
> Also I just want Adelaide to be happy. 
> 
> She steals Jack's truck and drives across the country with her parents' credit card and looks up at the stars at night and is /free/.


End file.
